


Short 36 - Number Crunching

by stgjr



Series: "The Power of a Name" Series 3 - "Time Lord Penitent" [19]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Fantastic Four, Multi-Fandom
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Multiple Crossovers, Multiverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-11-12 11:06:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11160609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stgjr/pseuds/stgjr
Summary: Our narrator is called by a colleague for a purpose of great weight and import: checking math.  Well, it is rather tricky math, at least...





	Short 36 - Number Crunching

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on March 24th, 2015.

Once and a while someone I've given a temporal beacon to will call me up and ask for help. And I give such aid with my customary flair of showmanship, technical wizardry, and grace.  
  
I'd never had someone call me up to ask me to _check their math_ , though.  
  
The room was... gray. Unassuming. Unfurnished. And on every wall there were calculations scrawled. Hundreds of them. Complex enough to challenge the greatest minds.  
  
Seriously, they made Euler's Identity look like 1+1.  
  
Of course, if you're writing calculations, it's because you're trying to calculate something. And I'd seen plenty of things calculated. But this was... well, not entirely unique, but close enough.  
  
"You're trying to mathematically model history," I said. "That's what I'm here for? To check your math on your not-so-little foray into psychohistory?"  
  
"With your Time Lord brain, you're one of the few minds who could hope to check my math." The figure beside me was a man approaching middle-age. Gray hair was starting to set in on his temples, in fact. But I knew it wasn't just age causing that.  
  
"Is it just that, Reed?" I asked. "Or is it something else?"  
  
Reed Richards didn't look me in the eye when I asked that. We both already knew the answer.  
  
"The math is brilliant, yes," I continued, pointing a finger along one wall strewn with esoteric-looking equations. "Inspired idea, trying to calculate historical trends like this."  
  
"I got the idea from..."  
  
"Asimov, yes?" I hid a smile. I usually don't speak about "mutually-fictional" settings in front of those I haven't had good and long discussions with about six-dimensional probability mechanics, so I didn't bring up the fact that I'd once had tea with Hari Seldon. I paced the room. "Oh, it's quite brilliant. You've outdone yourself, Reed." I looked back to him. "So. The math, as presented, checks out." I leveled a look at him. "This is about all of this mess with Stamford and the Registration Act, though, not the math. And the choices you and your colleagues have been making."  
  
"The math shows we have no choice," Reed said. "Without the Superhuman Registration Act, our world will suffer repeated societal earthquakes until..."  
  
"It all fails and Humanity quite possibly wipes itself out, right?" I breathed in a small sigh. "Well, your math's pretty clear on that subject Reed. I don't see problems with that."  
  
"That's what I was hoping," Reed answered.  
  
"Unless, of course, something pops up that you didn't calculate for," I continued, wagging a finger at nothing. "Just thinking aloud here, but... Seldon's Plan nearly failed because of one man. One being his psychohistorical calculation could never have hoped to account for. He even knew it could happen. He had to create an entire organization for the explicit purpose of dealing with those kinds of things when they emerged. And once you do that, the outcomes start changing." I twisted around. "All of this is wonderful _math_ , Reed. Exquisitely done. But history isn't just firm values and calculations. It's driven by people. Ordinary, extraordinary, it doesn't matter. A Scots sniper deciding not to shoot George Washington. Ordinary Union soldiers stumbling across General Lee's orders. A driver taking the Archduke Ferdinand down the wrong road. And those are just examples from your own history. You can't calculate for that. So all of this?" I gestured around me. "All it could take is one person making a decision the math doesn't account for. And this all becomes worthless."  
  
There was silence for several moments as Reed pondered my words. "That may be so," he finally said, "but the odds of that are low, and the risks of the alternatives too great. I can't take the risk that you're wrong about this."  
  
At that, I shrugged. "That's your choice, Reed. If you think that's what's necessary. A final word of advice, though." I tried to soften my expression. "Sometimes... you can become so wrapped up in trying to secure the best outcome that you do things. Things that you wouldn't have done otherwise. Things that can destroy who you are. I speak from experience. Don't let this stuff..." I motioned to the equations again. "...cost you everything you love, everything you are. It's not worth it Reed. It's not. I know."  
  
it was clear after a few moments I hadn't swayed him. I held out the sonic screwdriver and waggled it. "Oh, one last thing before we leave." I looked into an empty space in the room. "Sue, if you're as concerned about this as I think you are, you should come out."  
  
Sue Richards faded into sight. She gave me a pointed look. I smiled wistfully and waggled my finger. "Not hard to figure out you were here," I said. "And, well, I'm a Time Lord. We cheat." I looked at each in sequence one last time before walking to the door. "I think I'll leave you two to discuss all of this."  
  
"Actually, Doctor..." Sue began.  
  
"No, Sue," I said. "I'm not getting involved in this lovely little squabble your community is indulging in. I've got better things to do."  
  
"What about Stamford?" Sue asked. "You could have stopped it."  
  
"No, actually, I couldn't," I replied, turning toward her. "Fixed Point in Time, Sue. They exist. I can't do anything to them. Best I could do was turn 800 dead into 612." I turned back toward the door. "Give Cap my regards. You lot can call me when you've sorted this mess out."  
  
I had nothing more to say. I walked quietly to the TARDIS, where Liara was standing and waiting. "Everything alright?", she asked.  
  
"Probably not," I said. I looked at her and sighed wistfully. "Nothing I can do about it, anyway. This is a problem they have to sort out for themselves." I stepped into the TARDIS. "Now, where were we? Oh, yes, I believe I was going to show you the Ziggurats of the Trunari...."  
  
Could I have stayed? Maybe. But some things... I couldn't fix. Some things had to be handled on their own.  
  
Besides, if I had to deal with Maria Hill and her likely attitude toward me, I'd have probably been thrown into Cap's side of the fight anyway.


End file.
